I'm a student looking for a part-time job as a waiter in a cafe. On my first day they told me to work for free so they could see if I was good enough for the job. I worked 10 hours. The next day the...

Hello.

As a professional career consultant and executive workforce strategist, I must look at this situation through the lens of labor ethics,... professional boundaries, and asset protection. My strongest, immediate advice to you is this: Do not go back for a third shift, and do not work another minute for free.

Your instincts are 100% correct. What you are describing is not a legitimate hiring practice; it is a textbook exploitative labor scheme often referred to as "churning" or wage theft.

Here is a professional breakdown of why you need to walk away and how to handle this moving forward:

1. The "Working Interview" Reality Check
In the hospitality industry, a "working interview" (sometimes called a trail shift or stagiaire) is common, but it is strictly governed by professional and legal parameters:

The Scale: A legitimate working interview should only last 1 to 2 hours at most—just long enough for a manager to see your basic section management, hospitality etiquette, and floor p more